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Minimum timescales allowed for suppliers to prepare their bids for competitions are set out in the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, as directed by European Law. The timescales set out in the Regulations are the minimum permissible and public sector bodies should take account of all the circumstances, especially the complexity of the requirement and the time required to prepare a tender, when fixing time limits in a tender process.

The Regulations form part of the Procurement Journey which sets out procurement best practice guidance for the public sector and is published on the Scottish Government’s website at:

All Scottish public bodies, including Scottish Government agencies are encouraged to use the Procurement Journey.

During 2009-10, 22 local authorities approved 292 grants totalling £187,285 to assist home owners with lead plumbing repairs. The most recent data available on grants for lead plumbing repairs is shown in the following table.

2009-10

These statistics are published online at .

Sportscotland, as the national agency for sport and the lead agency for the development of sport in Scotland, provides financial assistance to local communities in order to deliver Ministerial priorities and delivering the objectives of “Reaching Higher,” the national strategy for sport.

I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of sportscotland to write to you separately with details of the investment that the organisation has made in the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency for the years in question.

The total drug costs and fees for dispensing methadone mixture and solution (1mg/ml) to the NHS in the last year (2010-11), broken down by NHS Board, are presented in the following table.

Total drug costs and fees for dispensing methadone mixture^1. Items dispensed in Scotland by NHS Board - Financial year: 2010-11

Notes:

1) Data relate to methadone mixture and solution (1mg/ml), which are recognised as being the standard products for methadone programmes;

2) Total drug cost is the paid Gross Ingredient Cost (GIC).

3) Methadone fees (cost applied to dispensing methadone);

4) Fees paid for the supervision of methadone (data are incomplete as some NHS Health Boards may pay elements of methadone supervision directly to pharmacists locally and where this is the case, no central data will be held)

5) Total cost (the summation of the Gross Ingredient Cost, methadone fees and supervision fees)

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Source: Information Services Division (IR2011-01468)

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Further information on the prescribing costs of methadone is available on the NHS Scotland Information Services Division Scotland website, using the following link: .

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The increased number of dispensed items and associated costs may be due to the increased numbers of individuals coming into treatment of which methadone may be a component of a package of care, treatment and recovery. The increase may also be due to increased pharmacy supervision in line with good practice and the Drug Misuse and dependence UK guidelines on clinical management.

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SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE

Information on the number of individuals in Scotland, who have been helped by methadone treatment is currently not centrally available.

The development of a follow-up reporting system for the Scottish Drug Misuse Database (SDMD), which is currently being rolled-out across specialist drug treatment services in Scotland, will allow patients to be tracked through the treatment system and will give us more information on the numbers of people engaging with treatment provision at any given time, what interventions have been delivered and what treatment outcomes have been achieved. This will include information on the numbers of people receiving specialist prescribing interventions related to the treatment of their drug use. Data will be collected from individuals at a three month follow-up session and subsequently annually thereafter. NHS Information Services Division Scotland anticipates that follow-up data for 2011-12 (the first full year’s worth of data) will be reported from December 2012, but plans to release interim reports in 2011.

The Drug Treatment Waiting Times Information Framework (NHS Information Services Division Scotland) collects data on the range of drug treatments and support which are offered to individuals accessing specialist drug treatment services in Scotland. For the last quarter (January – March 2011), the following offers of appointments for treatment were made:

Structured preparatory and motivational interventions – 1,936

Community based support and/or rehabilitation – 1,795

Prescribed drug treatment – 1,055

Residential Detoxification and rehabilitation – 108

These figures indicate that services are offering a wide-range of drug treatment interventions and support, and that prescribed drug treatment (including methadone) is not the most commonly offered service.

The only data held centrally on how many homes are served by water supply systems containing lead pipes is taken from the Scottish House Condition Survey. As this information is taken from a survey it will have an associated uncertainty around each estimate.

The estimate for the number of homes which are served by water supply systems with visible lead supply pipes for the period 2007-09 is contained in the following table.

Table 1: Number and percentage of homes which are served by water supply systems visibly containing lead pipes

Notes:

“-“ Estimate below 100 or no data available

These estimates are likely to be an underestimate of the true number of homes with water supply systems containing lead piping.

Source: Scottish House Condition Survey 2007-09

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-01227 on 14 July 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at .

In support of the Government’s objective for a Healthier Scotland, the Scottish Ministers have directed Scottish Water to develop a long term investment programme for the removal of lead pipes in the public network. In the meantime, Scottish Water has also been directed to remove lead pipes from the public network whenever they are found during routine maintenance work and also when requested to do so by individual customers. The Ministerial Directions are available at:

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In terms of the domestic element of the lead pipework which is the responsibility of the property owner, the Scottish Government has issued guidance to local authorities on the tolerable standard for housing. This is published on-line at . Chapter 8 of the guidance covers wholesome water. The presence of lead pipes does not necessarily mean the water is unwholesome but where a house falls below the tolerable standard because of the amount of lead in drinking water, local authorities have a duty to ensure that water quality is addressed.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-01227 on 14 July 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at .

Decisions on the type of treatment to prescribe are for individual clinicians, in discussion with their clients and in line with national and local guidelines.

Any review of methadone would be part of the continual review of the Scottish Government’s national strategy the Road to Recovery. This long term strategy, its impact and success requires review from both within and out with Government.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-00789 on 24 June 2011. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

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In order to do this effectively and sustainably the Scottish Government established the Drugs Strategy Delivery Commission (DSDC) in 2009 to give expert advice on the impact and progress of the strategy.

In addition to the work of the DSDC, we recognise that the Strategy is a product of political consensus and so it was right that the Scottish Government requested and led a parliamentary debate in September 2010, to hear the challenge and consensus of all political parties. Additionally briefing in parliament from the, then, Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing MSP, was offered to all ���˿���, as well as individual briefings for all party leaders, in March 2011.

The Scottish Government also has a national indicator to decrease the number of estimated problem drug users in Scotland by 2011, and 2009-10 prevalence estimates which will be reported in December this year.

In 2009 we committed to a HEAT target that states that by March 2013, 90 per cent of clients will wait no longer than 3 weeks from referral received to appropriate drug or alcohol treatment that supports their recovery. We are well on our way to achieving this target. In June 2011 we reported that approximately 94% of clients offered an appointment for assessment were offered a date which fell within the reporting period and was within 4 weeks of referral. And that approximately 96% of those offered an appointment for treatment were offered a date within 4 weeks of the date a care plan was agreed.

The Scottish Government has invested significant resources to enhance the Scottish Drugs Misuse Database (SDMD) to include the collection of follow-up and outcomes based information from clients as they progress through their treatment pathway.

The analysis and reporting of this information (expected by December 2012) will provide us with some key answers to the numbers of people in drug treatment in Scotland (by treatment type); and provide an opportunity for additional analysis which will inform our understandings of people’s journeys through drug treatment (for particular cohort groups), the effectiveness of different types of treatment (including length of time) and the outcomes that individuals are achieving (e.g. around accommodation, family, employment/training, drug use and offending).

So far from the SDMD we note that since 2007 more and more people are coming in to treatment (35,430 recorded entries into treatment, 2007-08 – 2009-10).

The Scottish Government remains committed to providing Parliament with regular updates on the implementation and impact of Road to Recovery for the review and challenge of ���˿���. We want to continue to work with parties across the Parliament to build on and reinforce the consensus this important approach.